


Books and Faces

by Ieavethecity



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: F/M, just a short lil concept :)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:00:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23098249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ieavethecity/pseuds/Ieavethecity
Summary: yeahhh, kinda a shitty lil concept. i may delete this later or just keep it up for the time being. i suppose it depends lmao
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh
Comments: 5
Kudos: 6





	Books and Faces

The library was Ben's favorite spot to spend time. There weren't many people, there was air-conditioning, and there was sometimes even free lemonade or coffee. 

He spent most of his time tucked away between the shelves, sat down with a few books surrounding him. There was always something new to find: a new section, hidden chairs, or a secret book he’d never seen before. 

It was wrong to judge a book by its cover, but he couldn’t help it. Ben simply loved to dragging his fingers across the shiny plastic that protected the spine, his touch gentle and considerate. He would glance across the titles, pulling out the ones he liked. 

The ones that caught his eye weren’t always the most colorful. Sometimes, they were muted grays, with sharp, staccato titles and single-word descriptions. He didn’t judge by the genre, only by how hard it was to tear his gaze away.

People were the same as books. Some were shiny and new. Others were weathered and old. All wore themselves in a certain way, though. 

Some were quick to catch his attention. Trying to convince him that their stories were worth telling. Wandering the world in search of someone to listen, to make them feel heard.

He sometimes saw that in Beverly. Heavy eyes, cracked pink lips, yellowing bruises against milky skin. Eyes that said she wanted someone to hold her lovingly. Someone willing to curl up with a cup of hot tea, to get lost within words for hours. Ben sometimes thought Beverly would want to be read by Ben. He would push that quickly from his mind, though. But the glances were there, the look in her eyes remained the same. 

Ben had neither the time or money to actually buy books. The sixteen-year-old would work doubles at a local burger restaurant, plastering smile after smile on his face to get tips. He got coffee on his shoes and in his hair, which was fine. He could work with that. He couldn't work with the way people treated him, though. He couldn’t stand it. He still listened, though. He would take their stories and laugh with an almost genuine smile, making them think they were worth his time. Sometimes, they tipped him well for that. Thankful for his pretend interest 

The endless shelves cradled his mind after hours at work, book after book calling out to him. He had time, but not for them all. He couldn’t buy them and take them home forever- there wasn’t enough space. Ben could adopt them for a night or two and then return them to their spot, waiting for someone else to listen to their stories. He sometimes wished he could hold them forever, especially the beautiful ones. The stories that almost brought him to tears, the pages that sent shivers down his spine. But he couldn’t afford it. Other people liked to read.

Ben would sometimes spend a whole weekend at the library. He could easily not speak a word to anyone for a whole week if he had the right book. That wasn't to say Ben didn't want to speak to someone, though. He really wanted to sometimes. To speak to someone the way he would want to be spoken to. With kindness and a genuine tone 

The issue wasn’t that Ben didn’t want to be close to someone, it was that he didn’t know how to be. He’d be hurt enough times in his young life that he had no idea if he was capable of the emotional vulnerability he would need to reach out to someone and connect with them. 

He was trying so very hard, though, to have this emotional vulnerability. For a redheaded girl named Beverly. A girl that smelled like sweet apples and strawberries and made a drink she named 'moon milk' and pretended she was in love with the night sky.

Ben wished he could see the girl more- that his heart could be kept wide open and that he could spend as much time as he wanted with her. But he couldn’t risk it.

As much as he wanted to, when he saw Beverly with a bright smile plastered on her face, one that made her eyes sparkle, Ben knew he couldn’t keep her. She wasn't his. Not even the best books couldn’t be stolen. 

On lazy afternoons, Beverly and Ben would sometimes run into one another. They would hang out with one another all day, both keeping their eyes scanned for Bower's as they split a milkshake. Laughs would come easy, smiles were contagious. 

That wasn't enough though, not for Ben. Sometimes, Beverly would put her head on his shoulder, allowing for Ben to be able to smell her green apple shampoo. Sometimes, Beverly would take Ben's hand into her smaller one, pulling him along with her as the two walked. Sometimes, Beverly would carefully listen as Ben read out whatever book he had rented. But that wasn't enough. 

It was an almost intoxicating fantasy, though. But it wasn't a possibility, or that's at least that's what Ben told himself. Ben was able to convince himself that Beverly, even though an open book, did not want to be read by him. 

Even though Beverly was the most captivating, intelligent, beautiful girl Ben could ever even imagine, she was not his to keep.

**Author's Note:**

> yeahhh, kinda a shitty lil concept. i may delete this later or just keep it up for the time being. i suppose it depends lmao


End file.
